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The Essential Guide » The Planning Stage » Should We Source Our Seld Build Trades People and Suppliers Locally?
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Should we hire everyone for the project from nearby?
There is definitely something to be said for trying to hire “locally”, but as usual with these projects “It isn’t that simple!” In some areas of the UK the word “local” means something different than in others. If you are out in the middle of the countryside or the highlands of Scotland, the word local may actually encompass a far larger region than if you are near to a major town or city.
For our purposes here, I’ll have to take local as being within easy daily travelling distance from the job. If, due to the location of your project, you are going to struggle with achieving that, you may find some of the headings contain useful bits and pieces to bear in mind anyway.
I’ll go through the various standard sections of a project:
Design:
Designers, Draughtsmen and Planning Consultants would make up a very important part of the early stages. Local people will have local knowledge. They will have worked, possibly very close to your project, and may be able to guide you past some of the pitfalls which they have previously come across. – If you are in control of the “Project Management”, I would always recommend trying to stick with local people for the design work.
If you opt to give the whole of the project over to a “Package Build Company” it is unlikely that their design team will be local to you. The designs themselves can be “just as good” whichever option you choose, but when the designers are situated in another area, you will be more reliant on their Project Manager to be aware of any “local” problems. If he has good local knowledge that is fine, but if not, you could find that that lack of knowledge causes you to hit the occasional “snag”.
Recommend: Local if possible / further afield if necessary.
Ground workers:
Here again, local groundworkers will have local knowledge. – Over the years I would say that groundworkers have been of the biggest help to me on site. There are some very wise guys who carry shovels! – They will know “people who know people”, which can be very useful if you come across a problem.
Large and complex contracts may require you to have to look a little further afield for suitable people who can “cope” with the scope of the work, but in general, for most problems you will encounter “underground”, you should be able to find someone not too far away who will be “the right men for the job”.
If you start to bring ground workers in form more than 40 – 50 miles you may be asking for trouble! – For example, if they have to “lodge” locally while they do the work, and you have 2 weeks of torrential downpours, - you may be landed with the bill for the accommodation! If their suppliers are located at a distance and they are short of some materials it could take days before the delivery arrives.
Recommend: Local if possibly / further afield if necessary.
Timber frame Suppliers / Erectors:
You can afford to keep an entirely open mind on where you source you Timber Frame company. – The location of their base does not form a critical factor in any way. – The delivery comes on the back of large “flatback” trucks. Often it will come either the day before it is needed and the driver will “park up” locally so he can be on site for 8.00am, or he will leave the yard early so he is still there for 8.00am. – If that happens, then you as the client would have no knowledge as to whether it comes from “up the road” or “up the country”.
By enlarging the area in which you will look for suitable companies you increase your ability to bring in competitive quotes. – A timber frame company located in one area of the country may have much lower overheads, and may be far more competitive than one local to you.
Just make sure that you are happy with the company themselves. Talk to previous clients, and make sure that deliveries are not going to be any problem. – You need also to be happy that if there is a problem after the erection gang leave the site, that they will be able to come back quickly to sort it out. – If you can hold “retentions” (see previous pages) on the frame that will help to ensure that you get a swift response if and when you need someone to sort out a problem.
Because a Timber Frame is an expensive item and can form a substantial part of your project budget, a 5% - 10% saving on its cost can create substantial savings. You may find that shopping round could bring savings of up to 20%.
Recommend: Source from anywhere. – Get the best package to suit your project and make sure they have someone who can come quickly to sort problems if you encounter them.
Bricklayers:
I would suggest that you try and use local bricklayers where possible. Bad weather can cause a lot of wasted time on this section of the project. If the bricklayers are local they can either “nip home” or go to another job which they may be able to do something on if they are “rained off” yours. – Anyone who is coming from over about 20 miles is not going to have that option.
Recommend: Local
Roofers (tilers):
Roofers don’t particularly need to be local. It’s probably better if they are, in case of leaks or any other problems, but the covering of the roof can take between a couple of days and a week or so, so if you manage to get a better “package” by going to someone maybe up to 50 miles away, that may be something to consider.
Recommend: Reasonably local but further afield if you get a good deal and they can cover you for any problems at short notice.
Joiners:
There are literally thousands of joiners and joinery companies around the company. There is no real reason why most people should not be able to find someone fairly nearby who is capable. Joiners (as opposed to the groundworkers “Chippies”) are needed on the site from fairly early on. On a traditional build they will be needed as the structure reaches joist level, when they will set the joists for the bricklayers to “build in”. They will sometime be needed for a day, or even half a day. – It is therefore important that they are easily accessible. – A joinery outfit of a couple of guys living 20 miles away may be harder to get to site at short notice. The same guys locally could “nip over” when needed. – Larger joinery outfits may not have the same problem. They will be more capable of moving people around on a day to day basis to cover any work required.
Recommend: Local
Plumbers:
It’s a good idea to try to stick either with a local plumbing and heating outfit, or at least to go with one who has at least one of their plumbers based close to your project. – Why? – LEAKS! There is no reason generally why plumbers you can’t get prices from plumbers 20 or 30 miles away. Their work is normally done in “short bursts”: First fix: Normally about a week. - Second Fix: About a week. - Final fix: a day or two. That’s fine, they can drive as far as they need to for those sorts of timescales, BUT, the morning you arrive on site to find a ceiling hanging down and a river of water running off it and onto your floor screed (which is supposed to be drying out ready for flooring!), you will VERY MUCH appreciate having the plumber “just up the road”!
This also applies for testing and after you have moved in. There are often “niggly” leaks which need attending to quickly once they are discovered.
Recommend: Local
Electricians:
Similar in many ways to Plumbers, Electricians will come to the site for “first fix” “second fix” and “final fix”. The distance they travel for the few days is not that important as long as their price is competitive and you know they are the suitable for the job. BUT, when the plumbers have come to test the system and the electricity has “tripped out” because of a fault somewhere, you would probably appreciate having someone close at hand who can call over to your site quickly and sort out the problem. If you don’t have that capability you may find yourself with a bill from the plumbers for “standing time” for 2 or 3 men at £15 - £20 and hour.
Once you move in, the same thing can happen. The supply “trips”, the freezer goes off, and you can’t find the fault. If you can’t get hold of someone quickly you could lose the food you have just bought and stocked it up with!
Recommend: local
Plasterers / Dry liners:
You could get these from pretty much anywhere. I have used guys from “up the road” and from over 80 miles away because they were recommended by a particular Timber Frame manufacturer and gave a good price. Their work is normally done over a couple of weeks and they are not usually needed for much after that unless you have a leak or something happens which mean you have to cut out plasterboard from ceilings or walls which then has to be repaired.
The quality is more important here than the distance. If you know that some based a fair distance away is goo and reliable, then get a price. If they assure you that nipping back in the event of repairs or problems is not a problem, then maybe you could consider them.
Recommend: From anywhere as long as price and quality are good and they can get back to sort out the odd problem (using “retentions” helps here).
Kitchen fitters / Bathroom fitters:
I have put these together because they are quite similar. If you use a kitchen or bathroom fitter, they will often come as part of a “supply and fix” package when you order the goods. It does not affect you how far they travel really. Their work is normally done in a week or so and you may have no need of their services again. If you have chosen a “supply and fit” package, the company will often have a maintenance guy who will travel to wherever he is needed to sort out small problems.
In reality, you will often use your own joiners and plumbers for this work. If they can do the work to the quality you are happy with (which many of them can), you may decide that just buying the kitchens and bathrooms and letting your own contractors install them is the best option. That way you will have the benefit of the work being guaranteed by the one outfit. – This gets you away from the “ Well our plumbing was fine when we left” (from the Plumber) and “ Well we checked everything before we left and it was fine” (from the Bathroom fitters), which normally results in “It must be their fault” (from BOTH of them!).
Recommend: If the kitchen is supply and fix, they can come from anywhere. They do this specific type of work every day and should be able to give you a high quality installation. Use your own plumbers and electricians if you want to keep everything simple and if they are up to the job.
Painters / Decorators:
It’s not really critical where you source the decorators. There will always be a bit of “patching” and “snagging” at the end of the job which may require them to come back for a day after doing the bulk of the work some time previously, but generally their quality and price are the most important factors here. – With decorating, if there is a problem, and you have some leftover paint, you can normally sort it out yourselves.
Tilers:
Similar to decorators. – They can come as far as you wish as long as you know their work is good and their price is right. – There is rarely any major work for them to have to come back to after they have done the main tiling, but again, if there is, and you have some spare tiles, adhesive and grout, you can normally do it yourselves.
Recommend: Source from anywhere. Quality and price are most important.
Flooring:
Carpets / Vinyl: Source from anywhere. They take a few hours to fit the product and you shouldn’t have to see them again. – The carpets occasionally need “stretching” after a few weeks. – Ask if they are happy to return if that is the case
Laminate / wood: Your joiner will often do this work, but if not then you should be ok sourcing these from anywhere. –However, there are many people who lay this type of flooring so there should be no problem finding someone local.
Audio / Visual / Home automation:
There are not many of these companies around yet. If you can find someone local who is suitable then that may be your best option, but if you can’t then you will find that most companies who install these products are used to travelling. – It’s a specialist area of work, so making sure you get the company you feel happiest with, whose products seem to be the best quality and value are the important things to look out for.
Recommend: Local is suitable people are available, anywhere if not. – Quality and price are more important than location.
External / landscaping:
There is no real reason why you should not usually find someone fairly local to you to do this sort of work. – It can be very dependent on the weather, so someone local may be able to send “the lads” to another job if for some reason “rain stops play” on your project. This will probably be reflected in the prices you are quoted by firms from close by or further afield.
For the design work on landscaping, apart from a few visits, the designer should not need to see the site too often, however, half a dozen visits from 80+ miles will take up a lot of the designer’s time and you will usually find this reflected in their prices.
There are plenty of Landscape Designers / Architects, so you should find someone locally without too much problem.
Recommend: Local, where possible.
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